Saturday, April 11, 2009

Social Nudity Experience: A Female Perspective

As a follow up to my last post, I decided to post an interesting article I recently found on the web about a female’s first social nudity experience. The article, written by University of Texas at Austin staff writer, Roxanna Asgarian, and published April 2, 2009, at The Daily Texan online web site, details her first social nudity experience when she visited a club party hosted by members of Hill Country Nudists, a non-landed nudist club located in Austin, Texas.

Generally it is not my habit to publish the work of others on my blog as I prefer to write my own original content and share my own personal experiences and opinions. Yet when it comes to the female perspective, I am of course rendered unqualified by the fact that I’m male. I think this article succinctly and effectively communicates the female perspective on a first experience with social nudity and felt that exposure to this article would be beneficial to any women who might visit this blog. I tried without success to contact the writer for permission but hopefully she won’t mind having her article re-printed here with full credit. Given that I only came across the article by happenstance myself and that few outside Texas are familiar with the Daily Texan, hopefully this re-printing will allow greater access to what was a very well written and enlightening piece of journalism.

Nudist club gets down to the essentials[1]

As I head down the winding, tree-lined Highway 71 on Saturday evening, I can’t help but feel butterflies in my stomach. I am going to the home of John and Connie, who withhold their last names, to have my first social nude experience.

Pulling up to the driveway, I am floored by the beautiful, secluded home.

I shyly ring the bell and look through the glass front door into the house, and see an awesome view of Lake Travis, which lines the backyard. A naked man appears in my line of vision. I blush as he beckons me in.

“Here goes,” I think, as I strategically avoid his lower region with my eyes as he directs me to a room to change. On the way, I glance at 10 or so middle-aged people, mostly couples, hanging out by the bar. Most of them are naked, although some have on a shirt or a sash covering select parts of their bodies.

We talked at length about nudism before the event, and they set my mind at ease. I was curious to know what goes down at a nudist event and how I would handle being naked in public.

“Women have an additional barrier to nudism,” one man said. “Many women don’t know whether nudism in a group setting will be safe, when actually it’s incredibly safe. It’s safer than going out to a bar, because you know and trust these people.”

I thought it was funny that, before I went to the Hill Country Nudists’ gathering, all my friends asked, “What are you going to wear there?” as if my outfit would be even more important since it would only be on for five minutes. I have on yoga pants and a T-shirt, and when John drops me off in the guest room with two other changing women, I peel them off.

The youngest woman there, besides me, is 24 and also a UT student. Other than that, the crowd is primarily middle-aged and most of them have their partners with them, which helps me loosen up and let my arms hang by my sides, rather than gripping tightly around my body.

They all introduce themselves as I crack open a Red Stripe and someone blends Pisco sours, a traditional Peruvian drink that tastes like a margarita topped off with bitters.

The theme of the evening is “Peruvian night,” and Virginia and Carlos, a married couple from Peru, fix empanadas and ceviche in the kitchen.

Then I meet Paul, who takes me out to the backyard to look at the view. In the back of my mind I wonder if “look at the view” means different things to each of us, but I figure I’m here to participate. Once I am naked, I feel like the hardest part is behind me. He is surprised when I tell him this is my first social nude experience.

“You seem so at ease,” he said.

I take that as a compliment. I had been worried leading up to the event that I’d arrive to find some massive middle-aged orgy, or that I wouldn’t be able to stop looking at all the penises on display. But no orgies (at least in front of me) and I only sometimes glance at the penises, a little. The ceviche and empanadas are divine, and the atmosphere is relaxed, friendly and respectful.

After dinner, the group takes turns in the hot tub, which is housed in a room with hanging plants and a wall of windows overlooking Lake Travis. Saturday evening also happens to be Earth Hour, a time when people around the country are urged to turn off the lights and conserve energy for one hour.

So off go the lights, and I sit in the hot tub, in the dark, with a couple of middle-aged men. I marvel at the fact that there isn’t even a hint of sexual overtone.

I’m serious. They’re asking me about my career goals and I am responding openly. I definitely feel naked, but I don’t feel exposed or sexually objectified.

I realize that these people are onto something, and that it takes maturity to be able to hold it down like this when you’re all nude.

At the end of the evening, after retreating to the guest bedroom to put my clothes back on, I say my goodbyes. I am invited back and told to bring friends. I take their invitation seriously, but am not sure if I want to become a lifetime member just yet. I hug the women and men and promise to come back. And on the way out, I don’t even glance at the penises.

Hopefully as you read the article you were able to identify many of the obstacles and barriers to female participation in social nudity which were discussed in my previous post. The issues and concerns are very real to women as I’m sure you could see expressed in Roxanna Asgarian’s article. But also, I hope you were encouraged by the positive experience that she had and saw how she worked through her initial misgivings and misconceptions and in the end discovered that social nudity was an enjoyable, wholesome, non-threatening, safe and relaxing experience.

How Often Do You Expect to Visit a Landed Club or Resort This Year

Subscribe Now: Feed Icon

American Nudist Culture Retailer Links

Disclaimer: While I do not consider nudity to be offensive, immoral or even necessarily an adult audience only subject, it is not my wish to offend anyone. So if you are offended by nudity or the mature discussion of the naked human body, this blog is not for you so you may wish to go elsewhere. If you are under the age of 18, I ask that you don't visit without parental consent. This blog does discuss nudity as practiced in nudism/naturism and my own thoughts and experiences as I explore it.